A Criticism of Herr Cronau’s Paper. 183 
the various monographs bearing upon the subject. At the same 
time he offered a carefully prepared array of evidence in favor 
of Samana or Atwood Cay. Owing to the fact that it was pub- 
lished in a government report,* the monograph did not then 
receive the attention it deserved, and for ten years it was popu- 
larly unknown; lately, however, it has commanded much in- 
terest. In his Discovery of America, Mr John Fiske adopts 
Captain Fox’s views, and Mr Henry Harrisse, though rather in- 
clining to Acklin island, practically admits that Captain Fox 
has come nearer to the truth than any other critic. 
From the nature of the case it is evident that the question 
cannot be settled without the aid of the trained seaman. It is 
equally evident that the problem comes within the domain of 
the geographer, the cartographer and the historian. No solu- 
tion will be satisfactory, therefore, that does not meet the con- 
ditions imposed by each of these sciences. Several historical 
papers that have recently appeared have been mercilessly rid- 
dled because of their failure to comply with the conditions de- 
manded by the navigator. The sailor, on the other hand, is not 
always beyond criticism in discussing questions belonging to 
history or to cartography. Herr Cronau,f a historical writer, for 
instance, who, in 1890, took the trouble to visit the Bahama 
islands, declares that he had no difficulty in identifying Riding 
rocks, on Watling island, as the spot where Columbus landed. 
Here is a statement that for vernal simplicity has scarcely an 
equal in historical literature. Had he divided the entire coast 
of the Bahama islands into five-mile stretches, he could have 
identified sixty per cent. of them with equal facility. Neither 
Becher nor Parker succeeded in accomplishing such a wonderful 
feat, and Herr Cronau has the credit of it all to himself. It may 
be casually added, however, so very like one another are stretches 
of coast that, in spite of lighthouses and profiles, scarcely a day 
passes that masters and pilots of long experience are not de- 
ceived. Indeed, there are but few harbors that have not either 
a ‘‘false” entrance or a “false” namesake. Herr Cronau also 
asserts that Watling island is the only one answering to all the 
*Report of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1880, Ap- 
pendix 18. 
+ In asummary of Herr Cronau’s paper, published in the Magazine of 
American History, March, 1892, President C. K. Adams, of Madison 
University, endorses this view. 
